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Lily Cole: 'I don't believe in perfection'

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In a short film, the 23-year-old goes bare-faced as she removes her make-up on camera as she talks about the pressure she had put herself under for her modelling career.

With a degree from Cambridge University, Cole stands apart from many of her model contemporaries due to her education - and in a new video for the New Thinkers Index, Cole shows her intellectual side as she shares her theory and views on perfection.

While acknowledging the general public deem models as an ideal of perfection, she believes the concept of the word is dangerous.

She said: 'I absolutely don't believe in perfection, I don't believe it exists and I don't believe it's necessarily interesting.

'I've put myself under a lot of pressure in the past, too skinny or too fat or in terms of intellectual pursuits or career pursuits.

'I've come recently to realise it can be quite a destructive way to live life.

'A lot of advertising can make people think you're not enough as you are, you're not enough until you have that or look like that.'

In the video, the model - who has a First Degree in History of Art from Cambridge - speaks about one of her favourite paintings by Leonardo Da Vinci.The model shows she's more than just a pretty clotheshorse as she demonstrates her passion and knowledge for art as she discusses the painting.

Cole filmed the video for the New Thinker's Index (NTI), a new interactive digital content experience where people can discover new thinkers who are shaping the future.

People can follow an online test to discover the type of thinker they are and why.

Also taking part in a series of short films to launch the Hyundai Motor Co. and Microsoft Advertising project includes Kevin Spacey, Helena Christensen, Ian Wright, Joseph Fiennes, rapper Devlin and RocknRolla actor Toby Kebbell, among others.

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